Page 32 of Hold Fast

“Enough,” he growled, the word leaving on a puff of steam in the cold.

But it wasn’t, and suddenly, Ewan didn’t know how anything that had once been would ever beenoughagain.

CHAPTER12

Una sat in a chair next to the hearth, trying in vain to warm her chilled body. Her dress and shift were soaked through to the skin, smelling sharply of sweat and blood. She needed new clothes or she would never get warm, but she didn’t have another gown. She shivered and wrapped her arms more tightly around herself.

Someone knocked on the door, a gentle tap before the heavy door creaked open.

Una shot to her feet.

“Knock knock,” Fiona said as she entered the room.

She was followed by a young woman with wild, golden curls. Her eyes were swollen and red-rimmed. She could only be Ewan’s sister. Fiona stoked the fire, sending sparks shimmering high in the hearth. The young lady stood frozen in the doorway, her eyes locked on Connor’s sleeping form in the bed.

“He lives, m’lady,” Una said softly. “He is feverish, but he is resting well.”

Sharp green eyes flashed in Una’s direction.

“Thanks to you alone, Una,” she said. Una wondered how she had learned her name. “I dinnae ken how we will ever repay you.”

“I cannae be certain that he—”

But she fell silent as the young lady waved her hand.

“You are a blessing to us, Una,” she insisted. “And thanks to you, Connor will live. I feel it in my bones.”

Una was humbled by Catriona’s confidence, even if she didn’t share it. Connor was much weakened by fever and blood loss, and she had put his body through yet another ordeal to tend to his wound. The next few days would be critical. She clasped her hands and chewed on her bottom lip anxiously, wincing as her teeth bit into the chapped skin.

“I have forgotten my manners. I am Catriona, the laird’s sister, though you doubtless put that together already.”

Una curtsied, her knees aching. “Lady Catriona.”

“Oh, none of that, please. Everyone calls me Cat.”

“I couldnae do that, m’lady,” Una protested.

Fiona cleared her throat and arched an eyebrow at Una, no doubt reminding her of a similar exchange between the two of them mere hours before. But this was different.

“Pfft. Please call me Cat. I want you to. I want us to be friends.”

Friends. There was that word again. She could count her friends on one hand with fingers to spare. Blair. Maddie, the Cameron housekeeper who had taken such good care of her. Once, she would have counted her childhood best friend, Joan, among the list, but Joan had disappeared in the middle of their sixteenth summer, and she’d never learned where she’d gone.

But Una nodded. She was not in a position to refuse either friendship or kindness.

The door opened once more, and another woman entered. She was short and plump, with curly chestnut brown hair wrestled into a knot at the nape of her neck. A halo of unruly curls wreathed her face, and as she turned to look at the assembled group, Una could not believe her eyes.

“Joan?” she shrieked, clapping her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide.

Joan’s face split with a wide smile. “Una!” she answered happily, rushing forward and wrapping her arms around Una’s waist in a tight hug. Una held her just as close, her chin resting on top of Joan’s head, fighting back tears and eventually surrendering to them.

Joan held her close and let her cry, rubbing her back with gentle soothing passes of her hand. Eventually, Una’s sudden tears gave way to embarrassment and she released Joan, stepping back quickly and wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands. She saw that some of the blood from her dress had stained Joan’s beautiful gown, and she winced.

“I have stained your gown with my mess, Joan,” she said. “I am so sorry. I should have thought before I—”

“Before you hugged your lost friend? Think nothing of it. I certainly dinnae mind.”

“What are you doing here, Joan? Of all places. You disappeared and I didnae ken where you went and—” She couldn’t continue.